CHAPTER XXIII.
EASTERN BENGAL, EASTERN BIHÁR, ÁZAMGARH, ALLAHÁBÁD, AND EASTERN OUDH.
When Sir Colin Campbell had started for Allahábád and Kánhpur to carry out, in the North-west Provinces, those great military measures which I have described in the three chapters immediately preceding, he was well, aware that he had left behind him many districts smouldering with revolt, others in which rebellion was raising its head, and which would require sharp measures of repression. With these I propose now briefly to deal.
In Eastern Bihár, presided over by a gentleman of marked energy of character, Mr George Yule, there had been, up to the time of the revolt of the native garrison of Dánápur, no outbreak on the part of the two sipáhí regiments located there — one, the 63d, at Barhámpur, the other, the 32d, at Bánsí. Some men of the 5th Irregular Cavalry, stationed at Rohní, had indeed made a dastardly attempt to murder their officers, but their commandant. Major Macdonald, had frustrated their attempt, and had displayed an energy and a promptness of action which had completely dominated the restless spirits of the disaffected. Mr Yule, ever watchful, had, with the aid of a small party of Europeans, maintained order in his division. But when Western Bihár, sympathising with the revolted sipáhís of Dánápur, rose he deemed it wise to secure the important posts of Bhágalpur and Mungér, posts necessary to assure the free navigation of the Ganges. These places secured, he could hear with comparative indifference of the rising of the 5th Irregulars, on the 14th of August, more especially as the men of that regiment failed to induce either of the two native regiments in his division to join them. His position, however, was full of peril, for those regiments were not to be depended upon,[1] and he was exposed to the inroad of mutineers from Chutiá Nágpur on the one side and from Eastern Bengal on the other.
Chutiá Nágpur, a m'ountainous district lying between Southern Bihár, Western Bengal, Orísa, and the Central Provinces, and inhabited by aboriginal tribes, possessed four principal military stations, Hazáríbágh, Ránchí, Chaibásá, and Parúliá. The troops stationed there were a detachment of the 8th N. I. and the local Rámgarh battalion, composed of horse, foot, and artillery. The Commissioner was Captain Dalton, a man of energy and ability.
Regarding this district it is merely necessary to record that its difficulties commenced when the native troops of Dánápur were allowed to rise in revolt. From that time to the very close of the rebellion it remained a festering sore in the heart of the country, the mutineers harassing the neighbouring district, and interrupting communications along the grand trunk road. Major English of the 53d, despatched by Sir Colin Campbell to deal with them, inflicted a great defeat on their main body at Chatrá, on the 2d of October, and thus temporarily relieved the grand trunk road. When English was compelled to march north-westwards, Rattray, with his Sikhs, replaced him, and maintained in the most salient posts a rough kind of order. But the danger was not wholly averted until the repression of Kunwar Singh and his brothers, after the fall of Lakhnao, pacified Western Bihár.
In Eastern Bengal there had been, first, manifestations, then outbreaks, quite sufficient to cause considerable alarm. On the 18th of November the sipáhís stationed at Chitragáon, and which belonged to the regiment which had made itself conspicuous for its disloyalty at Barrackpur, the 34th N. I., mutinied, released the prisoners from the gaol, and quitted the station, carrying with them the contents of the treasury, and three elephants. They made for Hill Tiparah, avoiding British territory, hoping thus to reach their homes. Four days later the authorities at at Dháká attempted to disarm the sipáhís stationed there, numbering 350 men. The attempt failed, for the sipáhís resisted, and although in the contest which followed they were beaten, yet, as at Dánápur, the majority got off with their muskets, and started for Jalpaigúrí, where was located the headquarters of their regiment, the 73d.
The Government of India had been alive to the importance of taking measures to provide against the consequences of an outbreak in Eastern Bengal. The natural run of successful revolters would, they knew, be for the important stations at Púrniá, Dinájpur, and Rangpur. To avert the danger from these, which may be described as the gates of Bengal and Eastern Bihár, Mr Halliday had obtained the sanction of the Government of India to enlist bodies of sailors, then lying idle in Calcutta, to serve as garrisons in those and other places. The precaution was not taken an hour too soon. But it was taken in time, and by means of it, and of the gallant and loyal conduct of the Silhat Light Infantry, led by Byng — who was killed — and after him by Sherer, the rebels from Chitragáon were intercepted and destroyed.
Those from Dháká were, in a certain sense, more fortunate. Baffled by Mr Halliday's precautions in their original intentions, they apparently resolved to make for Jalpaigúrí, to effect there a junction with the main body of their regiment, the 73d. That regiment had been kept from outbreak by two circumstances; the first, that they were located in an isolated station, cut off from their comrades, and they had but a dim perception of what was passing in the world beyond them; and, secondly, by the splendid firmness of their commanding officer, Colonel George Sherer,[2] who, on the first symptoms of mutiny had seized the ringleaders, brought them to a court-martial, and, in pursuance of the sentence recorded, had had them blown away from guns, despite the order of the cowed authorities in Calcutta that he should release them. The execution of those three rebels had saved many hundreds of lives, and had helped to maintain order. But not even the haughty bearing of Sherer would have kept his men to their allegiance had their mutinied comrades reached Jalpaigúrí. It became, then, a great object to prevent them, and this task was entrusted to the capable hands of George Yule.
With a company of the 5th Fusiliers, a few local levies, and the officers of the district at his disposal, Yule marched to meet and baffle the Dháká mutineers. Joined by the Yeomanry Cavalry, to be presently referred to, he prevented them from entering Purniá, barred to them the road to Jalpaigúrí, and, finally, compelled them to cross the frontier into Nipál. Thence, after suffering many hardships, they made their way into Oudh, only to fall there by the bullet and the sword.
In Western Bihár, and in the districts belonging to the commissionership of Banáras, those of Juánpur, Ázamgarh, and Gorákhpur, abutting on Eastern Oudh, the danger had been more pronounced and more serious.
The removal of Mr William Tayler from the administration of the affairs of Western Bihár had given a marked impetus to the rebellion. The feeble men who succeeded him, Mr Samuells and Mr Alonzo Money, were as shuttlecocks in the hands of Kunwar Singh and his partisans. The difficulties of the situation were, too, considerably aggravated by the action of the landowners of Ázamgarh and Gorákhpur, and by the exposure of the districts of Chaprá, Champáran, and Muzaffarpur, to the incursions of rebels from Oudh. The arrival of the 5th Irregulars, and, a little later, of the two mutinied companies of the 32d N. I., from Eastern Bihár, still further increased the difficulties of the situation. Vainly did Rattray, with his Sikhs, pressed by Alonzo Money, attempt to bar the way to the 5th. He was compelled to fall back on Gayá. The victors, but for the prompt action of Skipwith Tayler, the son of the far-seeing man whom personal spite had removed from the scene of his triumphs, would have massacred all the residents at that station. After that there was a slight change of fortune, and Rattray avenged his defeat, by the 5th, by annihilating a body of rebels at Akbarpur (October 7), and by compelling the retreat of the two companies of the 32d at Danchuá (November 6).
The Government of India had, in the meantime, accepted the offer of the able ruler of Nipál, Jang Bahádur, to despatch, to co-operate with their own troops in the Ázamgarh districts and in Eastern Oudh, a division of Gurkhás, led by their own officers. The Government had[3] also raised a regiment of cavalry, styled the Yeomanry Cavalry, composed for the most part of European adventurers, and commanded by Major J. F. Richardson, a very gallant officer of the regular army. They had, further, directed Brigadier Rowcroft to co-operate, with a force under his command, on the eastern frontier of Oudh, and they had ordered to him Richardson and his yeomanry corps, fresh from aiding Yule in his pursuit of the Dháká mutineers. The Naval brigade of Captain Sotheby had likewise been directed to join Rowcroft.
The Nipál troops, to the number of 3000, had entered the Gorákhpur division at the very end of July, had disarmed the sipáhís stationed at Gorákhpur on the 1st of August, had occupied Ázamgarh on the 13th, Juánpur on the 15th of the same month. Joined there by three officers deputed for that purpose by the British Government, by the lion-hearted Venables, and by the high-spirited Judge of Gorákhpur, William Wynyard, they had surprised and defeated the rebels at Mandurí, and had followed up their victory by occupying Mubárakpur and Atráoliá. They beat them again at Kudyá on the 19th of October, and at Chandá on the 30th. Just after the last-named action they were joined by a small European force, composed of 320 men of the 10th Foot, two guns, and 170 men of the 17th Madras N. I., the whole commanded by Longden of the 10th. Three days later the Oudh rebels again crossed the border, but again were they driven back. By this time the conclusion had forced itself on the Government that successfully to combat the rebellion in those mutinous districts more troops were required, and they arranged with Jang Bahádur for the co-operation of a further body of 9000 picked Gurkhás, to be commanded by Jang Bahádur in person, but to which a British officer, Colonel MacGregor, should be attached as Brigadier-General. They arranged, likewise, to increase Longden's force, and to place it under General Franks, C.B., an officer of tried merit. Whilst these two bodies, united, should clear the ground to the north of Banáras and to the east of Oudh, and then march on Lakhnao, to co-operate with Sir Colin Campbell in the operations against that city, which we have seen him contemplating, the force above referred to, under Rowcroft, should move from Tirhút along the Gandak towards Gorákhpur, and remain in observation on the frontier. It is necessary first, whilst the others are assembling, to deal with Rowcroft's force.
That force, composed of thirty men of the Royal Marines, 130 of Sotheby's Naval brigade, 350 Nipál troops, fifty of the police battalion, and four twelve-pound howitzers, was, in December, at Mirwá, forty-nine miles from Chaprá. Seven miles distant from him, at Sobanpur, was a force of 1200 regular sipáhís, supported by 4000 armed adventurers. These Rowcroft attacked on the 26th, defeated, followed up to Mijáulí, and drove across the Gandak. Thence, in obedience to orders, Rowcroft marched to Burhat-ghát, on the Gográ, to await there further instructions. On the approach of Jang Bahádur with his army (December 23 to January 5) he was directed to ascend the Gográ, to co-operate with the Nipál leader, who had signalised his advance by defeating the rebels at Gorákhpur. Rowcroft reached Barárí, in close vicinity to Jang Bahádur's camp, on the 19th January, and was joined by a brigade of Nipal troops the day following. The next day, to assure the passage of the river by the main body of the Gurkhás, he drove the rebels from Phulpur. Joined then by the Yeomanry Cavalry, he proceeded to enter upon the second part of his instructions, to keep open the communications whilst Jang Bahádur should march on Lakhnao.
The task was no light one, for the surrounding districts were surging with revolters. Rowcroft and his comrades, however, displayed a skill and energy not to be surpassed in the carrying out of their duties. Captain Sotheby, on the 18th February, captured the strong fort of Chándípur. On the 28th Rowcroft defeated the rebels at Gorákhpur. The force then crossed the Oudh frontier and occupied Amorhá. There it repulsed with great loss an attack made upon it by a greatly superior body of rebels. In this battle the Yeomanry Cavalry greatly distinguished themselves. There I must leave Rowcroft, waiting for reinforcements which had been promised, whilst I record the movements of the Governor-General, and the final clearing of the districts round Allahábád, Fathpur, and Kánhpur, which preceded the advance of Sir Colin Campbell into Oudh.
In the third week of January 1858 Lord Canning quitted Calcutta for Allahábád, to assume there the administration of the Central Provinces. Freed from the pernicious influence of his Calcutta councillors, Lord Canning displayed at Allahábád a vigour, a wisdom, and an energy in marked contrast to the narrow policy which had characterised his action when he had deferred to advice thrust upon him by the councillors he had inherited from his predecessor. He reached Allahábád the 9th of February, and at once made his presence felt. The districts to the west and south of that place and Kánhpur had been to a great extent cleared of the rebel bands which had infested them by the united efforts of Carthew, of Barker, and of Campbell. Early in March moveable patrols were appointed, under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Christie, still more completely to clear the district. By degrees the country to the west and north-west of Allahábád was quieted. But the districts to the east of it, the turbulent districts of Ázamgarh and Juánpur, remained a danger to Lord Canning for some time after he had moved his headquarters to Allahábád. How that danger was averted by the skill and gallantry of Lord Mark Kerr I shall tell in another chapter.
I left Jang Bahádur crossing the Gográ, at Phúlpur, on the 21st of February. He marched forward on the 25th, and pushing on, reached the vicinity of Lakhnao, ready to co-operate with Sir Colin Campbell, on the 10th of March. There, for the present, I shall leave him. Franks's force, which, as I have stated, was an amplification of Longden's, had been organised by the end of December. After temporarily clearing the Ázamgarh district, it moved forward, hampered by the want of cavalry, on the 21st of January. At Sikandrá Franks came in sight of a large rebel force. It was the day on which it had been arranged that his cavalry should join him, the 22d. He waited for them till the evening, when, to his delight, they came up, accompanied by four H. A. guns. There was no more hesitation. Early the next morning Franks attacked the rebels, and defeated them. Obliged then, in obedience to orders, to send back his cavalry to Allahábád, Franks moved to Singrámáo, and waiting there until the arrival of Rowcroft at Gorákhpur should enable Jang Bahádur to advance, set out the same day, the 19th of February, in the direction of Súltanpur. He reached Chandá the same day, and inflicted, in front of it, a severe defeat on the rebels. Occupying Chandá, he pushed on to Rámpúrá, halted there for two hours, then moving to Hamírpur, defeated another body of rebels, marching to the assistance of those disposed of at Chandá. Pushing on thence, he occupied the strong fortress of Budháyun in the face of the rebels, and completely defeated them in the hard- fought battle of Súltanpur[4] (February 23). The Láhor Light Horse joined him that evening, and the Jálandhar Cavalry the following morning. Franks pushed on rapidly after the battle. On the 1st of March Aikman, who commanded the Jálandhar Cavalry, heard of the presence three miles off the road of a rebel chief who had long been 'wanted.' Aikman dashed after him, caught him, killed more than a hundred of his men, and drove the remainder into the Gúmtí, capturing two guns. It was the resolute courage of Aikman that did it all, and for his daring and persistence he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
On the 4th Franks had reached Améthí, within eight miles of Lakhnao. Hence he proceeded to attack the fort of Daurárá, two miles off the road. But, in striking contrast to his usual tactics, he made the attack in a slovenly manner, and was repulsed. It was unfortunate for him, for it was believed he was to have held the command in the storming of Lakhnao, which Sir Colin, after the repulse, conferred upon Outram.
The assaulting army, numbering 20,000 men and 180 guns, is now collected round the doomed city. In the next chapter I shall have to relate how Sir Colin Campbell employed it.
- ↑ Two companies of the 32d mutinied a fortnight later, and all but captured Sir Colin Campbell as he was journeying up country.
- ↑ Father of the Sherer referred to in the page preceding.
- ↑ Vide page 213.
- ↑ In this battle Macleod Innes of the Engineers gained the Victoria Cross by a deed of splendid daring.